Federal workers in D.C. get OK to run for office

11/7/13 4:37 PM EST

Federal workers who live in Washington, D.C. will soon be able to run in contested, partisan elections without running afoul of the Hatch Act, a federal law which limits politicking by employees of the U.S. government.

Under a Office of Personnel Management rule change set to take effect next month, federal employees will be permitted to run as independents in such elections.

In most of the country, federal workers are barred from running in partisan races, but a slew of communities with large populations of federal employees have exemptions based on the notion that excluding a large cohort of the community from elective offices would unfairly disrupt local governance. The vast majority of Washington, D.C. suburbs have had waivers for decades, but the district itself was left out due to a historical legal quirk.

The new regulation allowing federal employees to be independent candidates in D.C. and permitting them to work on and run such campaigns is set to be published Friday in the Federal Register and to go into effect 30 days later. Federal employees will also be able to solicit volunteers to work for partisan local campaigns, but cannot ask subordinate employees to volunteer.

The new rule is the product of legislation advanced by Washington, D.C.'s delegate in Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and signed into law last year by President Barack Obama. Norton said it was needed to bring "parity" between the district and surrounding jurisdictions.